EcomHub

How to Find A Supplier on Alibaba the easy way

Now, in this post I am going to get into how to actually find the suppliers for the product that you want to sell.

I will be walking you through the process of using Alibaba to find trustworthy suppliers to make your product. For people new to the whole private label business, like myself, it can be intimidating your first time.

Overseas Vs. Domestic Manufacturers

The first thing that I want to talk about the difference between sourcing your product overseas, mainly China, and sourcing your product domestically. When I say domestically I am talking about sourcing your product in the same place that you live and where you are going to be selling your product.

Let’s take a look at some of the good and bad of sourcing overseas:

The Good

Huge selection of products to source

WAY easier to find a supplier that will manufacture your product

Products made very cheaply

Suppliers are willing to work with anyone that will pay

The Bad

High shipping fees

Long shipping times

Language barrier makes it difficult to communicate

Lower perceived value by customers

Higher risk of something going wrong

To find the good vs. bad comparison for sourcing domestically all you have to do is swap the above list. There is no point in me re writing it all out.

By looking at the size of each list you would think that sourcing your product overseas would be a bad idea.

The reason why I am going to be going overseas is because the things that are good about overseas sourcing are the most important for success.

Let me explain, the most important thing to have with a manufacturer is one that is able to make the product that I want for the cheapest price. Realistically, that is all you should care about.

By going overseas we are able to get both of those advantages, which makes it the better choice.

Do I wish that all oversea suppliers first language was English, that the shipping times weren’t so long and that it wasn’t so expensive to ship to the US? Of course!

But those negatives don’t come anywhere near the importance of being able to easily find a manufacturer that will produce the product that I want for the lowest price.

Don’t get me wrong, if you can find a supplier domestically that will make your product cheaper than overseas then by all means go with them. The only problem is that this situation rarely happens.

For that reason, I am going to be explaining the best way to find suppliers overseas by using the awesome resource of Alibaba.

Alibaba 101

Alibaba is going to be your best friend when it comes to finding a supplier. They make it extremely easy to quickly find suppliers that are willing to work with you.

Before we get into finding the suppliers, let’s get into what Alibaba actually is for those that don’t know.